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Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener recently received a Academy-Award nomination for adapted screenplay and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film "Can You Ever Forgive Me?." We'll revisit our conversation with Nicole – when she stopped by we talked about another one of her recent projects, "The Land of Steady Habits." She'll also discuss her childhood growing up among Hollywood filmmaking royalty. Show notes

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On today's episode, we're talking about the movie for which the masses have been clamoring. That's right, we've got comedian Emily Heller on to talk about The Mask. Emily is a stand-up comedian, but also an actor and Emmy nominated writer. She's written for 'Crowded', 'People of Earth', and most recently 'Barry.' On this episode, she gives April an inside look of what it is like to be in a writer's room. She discusses how she got started as a TV writer, what she did to get hired, and what kind of pilot's people are looking to read. She and April also dive right into the mixed messages of The Mask and how the movie is basically one giant meme. This is a hilarious episode and one not to be missed. Some would say it's "SMOKIN'!" (Sorry).

Check out Emily's new stand-up album, Pasta, which is out November 19th.

Rock musician Andrew W.K. is beloved not only for his bombastic, maximalist metal and transformative live performances but also for his work as a motivational speaker. If you ever go to one of his speaking engagements, whether or not you're a fan of rock music, you will feel an honest connection to him.

He just released a new album called "You're Not Alone." It's his first in almost a decade. It's got a message of inspiration - sometimes delivered in song, sometimes in spoken word and Andrew reveals a lot of himself in the record, too. This month he kicks off a huge tour with dates all over the world.

Andrew talks with Jesse about being compared to Mister Rogers, what he has been doing since his last album, and why sometimes he feels like Sisyphus - a character from Greek mythology forced to forever to roll a boulder up a mountain only to see it fall back down every time he reaches the top.

You know Bill Hader from his time on Saturday Night Live. He was kind of an impressions guy - he did a mean Vincent Price. His most famous character was Stefon, from the Weekend Update sketches. He left the show in 2013 and went on to perform in movies like "Trainwreck," "Inside Out," and the smash hit "Sausage Party." Along with Fred Armisen, he also starred in the IFC show "Documentary Now!."

His latest project is an HBO TV show called "Barry." Hader stars as the show's title character, Barry Berkman. Barry's an ex-marine turned low rent hitman in Ohio, turned aspiring actor in Los Angeles.

Bill tells Jesse about working as a production assistant when he first came out to Los Angeles, the influence his parents had on his taste in film, and the struggle he had to project his voice.

Van Morrison doesn't really like to perform live, but there certainly was a time when he was great at it and it's on tape. "It's Too Late to Stop Now" was Van Morrison's first live record. He taped it across three months of touring in 1973. It's partly the totally revolutionary stuff he was making in the early 70s and it's partly a fond, almost nostalgic goodbye to the great songs he sang with his first band, Them, in the 60s.

Lynda Barry on finding your creativity and working with preschool children

Lynda Barry is a self-identified "freak", a cartoonist, a writer, and for the last couple of years, she's also been a college professor teaching interdisciplinary creativity at the University of Wisconsin.

What does that mean? Well, she encourages students to abandon their fears of creating and embrace their work and process.

Lynda talks with us about using monsters as a tool, why we're sometimes afraid to draw, and working with Matt Groening in high school.